Wedding Jitters
by Light-Eco-Sage
Summary: Kai and Jinora are engaged to be married. While the world celebrates the first marriage between two Airbenders in two hundred years, their closest friends and family weigh in. Some are pleased, one can't believe his little girl has grown up so much, and another is worried that she might have to betray her happiness to follow in their footsteps. Kainora, Korrasami, Bopal, Pemzin
1. The Announcement

**Wedding Jitters**

 **Rated: Teen for romance. (Kainora, Korrasami, Pemzin, Bopal.)**

 **Summary: Kai and Jinora are engaged to be married. While the world celebrates the first marriage between two Airbenders in two hundred years, their closest friends and family weigh in. Some are pleased, one can't believe his little girl has grown up so much, and another is worried that she might have to betray her happiness to follow in their footsteps.**

 **Disclaimer: _The Legend of Korra_ is owned by Bryke and Nickelodeon.**

 **LES: While I was recovering from getting a bad tooth extracted, I fell back into the Avatar fandom. I hadn't watched Legend of Korra since it came out and I hardly remembered it except for the major things that happened in the first two seasons. I hardly remembered Seasons 3 and 4. Which is a shame, because when I watched the show again, Season 3 is by far my favorite. And while I only remembered the love quadrangle that developed between Team Avatar, I seriously fell head-over-heels for the smaller pairing of Kai and Jinora. I love them about as much as I hated the quadrangle between Korra, Mako, Bolin, and Asami. But, the main problem with loving a smaller ship is less fan material. So here's a little something for my fellow Kainora fans.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Announcement**

* * *

Against all odds, everything seemed to have settled down in Republic City and the wider world in the four years since Kuvira had tried unsuccessfully to bring the entire Earth Kingdom and the United Republic under her boot. Of course, there were still many small problems in the world, but certainly nothing that threatened the end that the world had to deal with in the years after Avatar Korra publicly took her place as the Avatar.

Even still, it was a rare thing for the city to have some good news to celebrate.

Almost everyone was in high spirits as they looked at their morning papers to find the announcement that many had been expecting for months now: Master Tenzin's eldest daughter was soon to be married to a young boy who had been one of the many to gain Airbending abilities in the aftermath of Harmonic Convergence.

The young man was not as well known as the Air Nation's first family, but he had gained some amount of notoriety in the aftermath of the rebirth of the Air Nation by becoming fast friends, and then a couple, with the young heir to the Air Nation. They had been a couple for close to six years now, and almost everyone had been holding their breath waiting for the announcement from the moment that this young man was confirmed as an Airbending Master a couple of months ago.

Almost everywhere you looked, the people of Republic City (and the whole world as the news spread) could only talk about one thing: the assured future of the Air Nomads and the Air Nation's first family. From every street you could hear someone tell their friend "You do know that two Airbenders always have Airbending children. With this marriage, the Air Nomads will only grow in size."

Of course everyone was excited. The Air Nomads had been the only culture with a 100% Bending rate among its people. When Avatar Aang had gotten married to Master Katara, everyone had hoped and prayed to the spirits that this would hold true for their children. However, only one out of their three children had been born with Airbending. (And another having gained his Airbending much later during Harmonic Convergence.) Master Tenzin and Pema had renewed that hope with all four of their children being Airbenders. But, now, with the marriage of Masters Kai and Jinora, it was like the entire world was breathing a sigh of relief. Surely the marriage between two Master Airbenders could not help but produce that 100% Bending rate again?

* * *

 _Republic City Chronicle_

 _Master Tenzin's daughter, Master Jinora, to Wed Fellow Master Airbender Kai._

 _In an event that has not been seen for nearly two hundred years, we have received confirmation that Republic City will soon see the marriage of two Master Airbenders. Master Tenzin confirmed late last evening that recently anointed Master Kai had proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Master Jinora, and that she has accepted his proposal._

 _Master Jinora, Master Tenzin's eldest daughter and aged eighteen, is part of what the Air Nomads are now calling the Air Nation's First Family, those who are directly descended from the only Air Nomad to have survived their genocide: former Avatar Aang. Master Jinora is Avatar Aang's eldest granddaughter and earned her rank as a Master Airbender at the same age the former Avatar did: age eleven. In the years since, she along with all of the other Airbenders have worked tirelessly to promote peace and balance through the world whenever Avatar Korra could not personally attend to a situation. She was one of the many Airbenders who fought against the Kuvira Colossus four years ago._

 _Master Kai, aged nineteen, is one of the many former Earth Kingdom natives who gained the ability to Airbend after the event known as Harmonic Convergence. Once an orphan on the run from Earth Kingdom authorities, he was one of the first new Airbenders to join the Air Nation. Only weeks into his training, he nearly gave his life in battle at the Northern Air Temple when the new Air Nation was attacked by terrorists. And in the aftermath he joined his fellow Air Nomads in their quest to bring balance and peace to the world, and he like his future wife, was among the Airbenders who defended Republic City from the attack of Kuvira's Colossus. Only three months ago it was confirmed by Masters Tenzin and Jinora that Kai, along with a couple of his fellows, had earned the rank of Master and were anointed with their tattoos and rank._

 _Since the Air Nomads traditionally considered their children to have reached adulthood at the time they receive their Master tattoos, many people had begun to wonder if the new Air Nomad's most famous young couple was thinking of marriage after Master Kai was anointed. Many experts on the science of Bending agree Harmonic Convergence has given the Air Nation a short cut to rebuilding itself, and that short cut is one best exploited by encouraging marriage between Airbenders._

" _Trying to rebuild the Air Nomad and Airbending population back up from only Avatar Aang was something that many considered to be near impossible." A professor of Bending Genetics at Republic City University told us. "Avatar Aang and his son were required to marry non-Air Nomads out of necessity in the absence of other Air Nomads, but each marriage diluted Avatar Aang's Airbender bloodline. To introduce new Airbending lines is just the thing we need to rebuild the Air Nomad population while avoiding the dangers of having to consider inbreeding in a few generations."_

 _Master Tenzin has informed us that while a date has not yet been set for his daughter's marriage, they are considering an Autumn wedding, as Autumn is a sacred time for the Air Nomads. He also declined to comment on his first son-in-law and instead focused on wishing his daughter love and happiness in her upcoming marriage._

* * *

One person, however, could only groan in embarrassment as he set the paper down on the table in front of him. Kai leaned forward, pressing his hands to his face in a vain attempt to hide the fact that his face was practically on fire with a blush.

He had gotten somewhat used to people being interested in him, both as a harmonic Airbender and as Jinora's boyfriend. But did they really have to go and dig up his criminal record in the Earth Kingdom?! It was nerve-wracking enough to get up the courage to ask Tenzin for Jinora's hand in marriage and he had been clean of crime for years. Just the reminder that he was once little more than a lowly thief would probably be enough for Tenzin to call the wedding off altogether.

It took Kai several deep calming breaths to realize that Tenzin wouldn't do that again. While Tenzin was not overly thrilled about Kai and Jinora's relationship, it seemed that these days it was more about him being critical of anybody who would date his daughter rather than anything about Kai personally. Even still, the nerves of growing up under the old Airbending Master for the past several years did not go away so easily. After all, Tenzin had been the very first authority figure who had scared Kai into turning over a new leaf. While Jinora…

At the thought of his beautiful finance, Kai was finally able to relax a little. Tenzin might have put fear into him, but Jinora had made him _want_ to be a better person. It went the other way too. While Jinora was making Kai a better person by just existing, Kai had somehow made Jinora more adventurous, more daring, and a little less about blindly following the rules. Just one of the many things that had caused Kai friction with his future father-in-law over the years.

Without turning around, Kai began to feel her approach him. When he'd gotten his tattoos a couple of months ago, of course he had to shave his head. He had mourned his hair for days, but also came to appreciate a little his heightened sense of how the air moved around him while lacking his hair. Even still, he had made the choice to allow his hair to grow back. But sometimes Kai liked to think that he'd kept that heightened sensitivity, no matter what Tenzin said about that being impossible.

She leaned down and wrapped her arms around him, and Kai knew instantly that it was Jinora. Hardly any of the other Airbenders would approach him this casually anymore. The newer Airbenders were intimidated by his tattoos and status as an Airbending Master and one of their teachers. While the elder students all remembered him during the fight at the Northern Air Temple. If things continued this way, his bravery and near-sacrifice against the Combustion Woman, P'li, would outlive him as an Air Nomad legend.

"You're going to be late for your class, Kai." Jinora said into his ear, pressing a brief kiss to his cheek.

Now that there was more than a couple of Master Airbenders, Tenzin was no longer solely responsible for teaching all the new Airbenders that had joined the Temple. In terms of the old Air Nation, Tenzin now held a position similar to Head Monk, but of the entire Air Nation. Now his former students largely took care of the day-to-day training of the new Airbenders. Kai was suited for teaching the actual practice of Airbending. Not that he couldn't lead a class in mediation or give an Air Nomad history lesson, but those tasks were better suited for Jinora, who also taught spirituality to those students who showed an aptitude for the subject.

"My class is still not for an hour." Kai replied. "Hey, Jinora, it's not too late to join you in your mediation, right?" He asked.

At his words, Kai felt her movement as she loosened her grip on him and sat down next to him at the table. "What's the matter?" She asked. "You hate meditating and only offer to join me if something is bothering you."

 _How is she able to read me so easily?_ Kai wondered to himself as he silently passed over the paper he had been reading so that she could see the article that had been written about them.

"Wow. I didn't expect them to make an announcement in the paper so soon." Jinora said, more than mildly impressed at the fast turn around rate for the news. "My father only made that announcement just before dinner last night."

Kai sighed. Of course she wasn't impressed. She'd had articles even more personal written about her probably since the moment she was born. After all, at the time of her birth, her grandfather had all ready passed away, leaving Tenzin as the last Airbender and making Jinora incredibly important to the whole world.

"I'm sorry, Jin." Kai said. "You know I'm just not used to people caring about my life all that much. They even brought up my former life in the Earth Kingdom. Why would they do that? I'm not a thief or a runaway anymore."

Jinora cut off his freak-out with a soft kiss. "Hey, calm down. It's all right. It has very little to do with you, and everything to do with me. If you have gotten engaged to anyone besides me, they probably wouldn't even care in the slightest. They are just excited because… well..."

She didn't finish her thought, but Kai knew what it was. Pretty much the only thing they'd heard from the non-Bending Air Acolytes was the almost certainty that they would produce strong Airbending children.

Not that Kai didn't want to have children eventually, but he wanted that to be at least a couple of years off. He wanted time with Jinora first, just as being her husband. But the pressure that the world was sure to put him under… _I wonder if the press ever hassled Avatar Aang or Master Tenzin?_ Kai wondered to himself. Surely at least the former Avatar had to have felt the pressure to have children.

"Kai, is something wrong?" Jinora asked. "Is something else bothering you besides the media bringing up your past?"

"I mean… yes, that is bothering me." Kai admitted. "I know that your father has a hard time trusting me. But one word from him, and our wedding could be off."

Jinora met his eyes with a serious look. "I am an adult and a Master Airbender. My father couldn't stop us from getting married. If it really came down to it, I would gladly fly off with you. But it's not going to come down to that. I know that my father can be… rather stiff, but he does care about you in his own way. He probably won't say it again, but what he said during your anointment ceremony is true… he's proud of the man you've become. But that's not all, is it?" She asked.

Kai sighed. "Then what about children?" He asked.

Jinora sighed. "From the time I was old enough to understand, I had grown up knowing that children were expected of me. My father and grandfather were hounded nearly every single day of their lives to start families, and to have more and more children. That changed with Harmonic Convergence. There's more than just five Airbenders now. But, you know what, Kai… I would be happy to have a child with you. Maybe not immediately… but that is something that I would like for our future together. And if the child is an Airbender like everyone hopes… great. And if not… that would be great too."

And at last Kai really smiled. "I'm so glad that we agree." He said as he pulled her into a kiss, which she gratefully returned. For a few blissful moments, it was only the two of them and their feelings for each other.

Until the moment was ruined by Jinora's youngest brother. "Augh!" Rohan groaned at the sight of his eldest sister and her fiance kissing at the table. The seven year old boy covered his eyes. "Ugh, Jinora! That's so gross!"

"Aww… is my little baby brother jealous?" Jinora asked, smirking at him.

"What?! No way!" Rohan grumbled. Jinora watched in amusement as her little brother threw up his arms in annoyance and stomped out of the room. And to think there was once a time when Jinora had been considered the spitting image of her grandfather. Besides the eye color and the fact that Rohan was still many years off from becoming a Master, there was hardly a physical difference between him and their grandfather.

Jinora and Kai laughed as he stomped out of the room. "It's almost scary how much he looks like your grandfather." Kai commented.

"Do you think he's going to be a heart-breaker like my grandfather was?" Jinora asked with a laugh.

"I'm not sure if the world is ready." Kai told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and drawing her into another kiss.


	2. Double Date

**LES: I think I misspoke during the first chapter's author's note, and I just want to clarify something. When I said that I hated the love quadrangle that formed between Team Avatar, that doesn't mean that I have particular hatred for any of the specific pairings. I just tend to roll my eyes at relationship drama, in general. So while the individual pairings are pretty okay, and I'm pleased with how it all turned out, I just don't like that particular cliché.**

* * *

 **Chapter II: Double Date**

Asami laughed to herself as she stepped out of the bathroom and found that her wife was still laying in bed. Asami had always been something of an early-riser, but Korra was the exact opposite. Asami seriously doubted if Korra had even seen a sunrise since the end of her Airbending training.

But Asami didn't mind. She liked the quiet mornings, drink a nice steaming cup of tea, and read the stock information in the newspaper before Korra would wake up and they could discuss their plans for the day.

Asami padded into the kitchen and set out brewing a cup of her favorite breakfast tea. Their butler had all ready set that morning's newspaper on the table next to Asami's seat. So while waiting for the water to heat to a boil, Asami picked up the newspaper and was about to flip past the front page to the business section when a couple of familiar names jumped out at her.

Naturally, Asami stopped on the front page and read the title of the article. And when she had taken that and the article in, she once again laughed to herself. _Oh, Korra is going to be so happy when she hears this news!_ Asami thought to herself as she finally turned her attention to the business section to read up on today's stock information while waiting for Korra to finally crawl out of bed.

It took a little over an hour for Korra to finally drag herself out of bed. As usual, Korra's first stop in the morning was to the kitchen for a cup of tea instead of getting ready. But Asami didn't mind. Korra looked beautiful, even with her hair all messed up from sleep.

"Good morning." Korra said with a yawn as she poured herself a cup of tea. She took a small sip and breathed a small sigh of relief as the warm liquid helped to wake her up.

"Good morning." Asami greeted. "You should read the newspaper today. There's some very interesting news on the front page." As Asami expected, Korra rolled her eyes and didn't immediately take the paper. She was still a little weary of the media from her early days doing her duty in Republic City, even though everything in general was going much better under President Moon. Zhu Li was everything Raiko wasn't, and knew how to get things done. It was just like they all once told her: anyone who could handle Varrick could handle Republic City easily. Asami smiled. "Go on. I promise that it's all good news."

Finally Korra relented and accepted the paper from Asami. She turned it back over to the front page and almost immediately found the article that she was referring to. Asami waited for Korra to finish reading the article, and was not at all surprised when she leapt up from her chair, picked Asami up by the waist and spun her around gleefully.

"Spirits! This is such good news!" Korra squealed happily. "Kai and Jinora must be so happy! We should go out to Air Temple Island today to congratulate them!"

"I was thinking the same thing." Asami said, giving Korra a brief kiss before she stepped out into the hallway to speak to her butler about clearing her schedule for the day.

"Oh! And we should take them out to dinner tonight!" Korra called to her wife.

Asami laughed before telling her butler to set up a reservation for them tonight.

* * *

It was a beautiful day at Air Temple Island, and a far cry from how it looked only a few years ago. With the almost complete destruction of the Northern Air Temple, Tenzin made the decision to make Air Temple Island the main home of the new Air Nomads. It was more centrally located than the other Temples, and the Airbenders loved to spend their free time in Republic City and the Spirit Wilds. So while the Temple had always been filled with Air Acolytes, now the entire Island was alive with Airbending activity. Korra even spotted Opal leading a group of new young Airbenders through their morning mediation, but she did not stop to say hi. There would be time to visit with Opal later.

As she made her way up to the main Temple building, she was quickly greeted by Tenzin. "Good morning, Korra. Good morning, Asami." Tenzin greeted with a smile.

"Good morning, Tenzin!" Korra replied with a smile. "So we saw the news in the morning paper and just had to rush over."

"This is such great news and we are so happy for Jinora and Kai." Asami said. "I know they've been together for several years now, but I didn't think that Kai would ever have the guts to ask for Jinora's hand. Speaking of which, you didn't go too hard on him, did you?"

"Can you ever be too hard on the man who wishes to marry your daughter?" Tenzin asked rhetorically.

Korra softly elbowed her Airbending Master in the side. "You might be able to fool Kai, but not me. You like him. Just admit it."

Tenzin looked around for any sign of Kai. It took several moments. Kai might have given up being a thief years ago, but he could still be plenty sneaky if he wanted to. "I'll freely admit that." Tenzin told Korra. "Yes, Kai has grown into a fine young man, and I am very pleased that he loves Jinora so much. But a little fear is healthy in the relationship between a father with his son-in-law."

"So when are you going to stop giving him a hard time?" Asami asked.

"Oh… I believe a couple more years should do it." Tenzin said with a playful smile that would seem more at home on Bumi's face rather than the strict Airbending Master.

"So where are Kai and Jinora? We would like to congratulate them." Korra said, looking around for any sign of the two Masters.

"According to Rohan, they were kissing at the breakfast table about a quarter of an hour ago. They could still be there, or Jinora could have dragged him off for their meditation by now." Tenzin answered.

"Thanks, Tenzin!" Korra said, rushing off while giving her old Airbending teacher a wave. Asami gave Tenzin a bright smile before following after her wife.

Tenzin chuckled to himself as he watched them make their way into the main building. "Kids these days."

* * *

In the breakfast pavilion, Korra and Asami found Jinora and Kai enjoying their breakfast together. Before even a Master Airbender could react, Korra was upon them, scooping both Airbenders up into her arms as they gave cries of shock. They quickly calmed down as they came to the realization that they only knew one person physically strong enough to do this.

"And here's the happy couple!" Korra said with a bright smile, tightening her grip on the two Airbenders.

"Korra… can't… breathe..." Kai gasped, and Korra released her hold on them.

Jinora managed to slip out of Korra's grip, but Kai was not so lucky. He remained trapped in Korra's arms as she hugged him again. Jinora was caught by Asami, who took her hands. "Korra and I just got the news this morning! Congratulations!" She said.

"Yes, congratulations! We are both so happy for you." Korra said, finally releasing Kai from her grip. The young man pulled away, straightening his robes and hair.

"Thank you." Jinora replied. "We are both really happy." She stepped up to Kai's side and took his arm. They smiled at each other fondly.

"Listen, are you two busy tonight?" Asami asked.

The two Airbenders glanced at each other. "We have to teach some classes today, but we should be done by this evening. Why?" Kai replied.

"Because we want to take you out to dinner to celebrate your engagement. Our treat." Asami said with a smile.

"Oh! That would be great! Which restaurant?" Jinora asked.

"Kwong's Cuisine." Asami answered. "It's the best restaurant in Republic City."

While Jinora gasped happily, Kai's face fell. Kwong's Cuisine had a pretty strict dress code, which Kai could not meet. From the time he'd joined the new Air Nation, he had never owned any clothes besides his Air Nomad robes and flight suit. And he very much doubted that the Air Nomad robes would be acceptable.

"Is something the matter?" Asami asked, noticing the look on Kai's face.

"It's just… I don't think I have any clothes that they would welcome in a high-end place like Kwong's Cuisine." Kai said, gesturing to his robes.

Instead of being disappointed, Asami just laughed. "Oh, that's no trouble at all. Mako had the same problem on our first date. We'll have something for you to wear, don't worry. Just show up at the restaurant, tonight, at six, ready to eat."

"Thank you so much. We will definitely be there." Jinora said. "Sorry, but we have to go. It's almost time for our classes to start."

"Don't be too hard on them." Korra said, giving them a thumbs up.

Kai and Jinora laughed. "Thanks." Jinora said. "See you two tonight!"

* * *

If there was one definite upside to living in Republic City, it was the night life. From sundown to sunrise, there was always something to do in Republic City. Kai walked down the streets of the city, just a little shocked at how many people recognized him on sight and were shouting words of congratulations at him. Of course, the tattoos were a dead give away. Only a handful of the Harmonic Airbenders had gotten their tattoos at all.

Asami had given him a call earlier telling him to show up a little early to the restaurant, which is why he was standing outside of Kwong's Cuisine an hour early. He didn't have to wait very long when a Satomobile parked on the street next to him and Asami stepped out. "Good. You're all ready here." She said, giving him a smile. "Follow me inside."

Kai fell into step beside her as they stepped inside the restaurant. The host noticed him first, and judging from his expression he was trying to decide if he wanted to allow him into the building with his Air Nomad robes on. The Air Nation had too few members for it to have come up before, obviously. But then he noticed Asami, not that it was hard to miss the Avatar's wife. "Oh! Good evening, Mrs. Sato!" The host said, bowing very low at the waist. "Your reservation is all prepared for tonight. Do you have additional instructions?"

"Yes, I do." Asami said. "I was wondering if we could give my friend here some appropriate clothes for dining here this evening." She passed the host a sizable stack of Yuans.

"Of course, I would be happy to..." The host finally got a look at his face and gasped with recognition. "Oh! You're the Air Nomad who is to marry Master Jinora!"

"Um… yeah. That's me." Kai said nervously.

"Congratulations! It's all anyone has been talking about all day! Am I to assume that this is a celebration of your engagement?" The host asked.

"Just a small one." Asami answered. "It's going to be just me, Korra, Jinora, and Kai."

"Wonderful. Well, shall we get you your new clothes, Master Kai?" The host asked, once again bowing so deeply at the waist that Kai kind of worried for him. Kai gave Asami a nervous look, but she smiled reassuringly at him, so he followed at the host without protest.

* * *

An hour later, Korra and Jinora showed up together in another Satomobile being driven by Korra. After months of practicing, Korra had finally gotten the hang of driving. But it still took another year and a half for Tenzin to be okay with Korra driving any of his children around.

Unlike Kai, Jinora was used to attending formal events all of her life, so she had plenty of options for Air Nomad formal wear. She was wearing an elegant silken dress in the bright Air Nomad colors of orange, yellow and red. Like the sunset, the colors shifted from golden yellow to blazing orange down her body, with a red accent scarf around her waist and then up over her shoulder.

The two women walked into the inviting atmosphere of the restaurant and were quickly greeted by the host. "Avatar Korra, Master Jinora, welcome to Kwong's Cuisine. If you would follow me, please, the rest of your party is waiting for you." He bowed low and began to lead them to the upper floors of the restaurant where the private rooms were.

In one of the private rooms, Kai was gently tugging at his collar. Never in his life had he worn anything nearly this fancy, and it was almost choking him. "I kind of feel like a hog monkey dressed up for a circus act." Kai said.

"Nonsense. You look great." Asami assured him. "And I can promise you that Jinora will be impressed."

"Really?" Kai glanced down at the penguin suit he'd been given to wear. Perhaps Asami was right, if only for the novelty of his outfit. But more than anything, he was looking forward to seeing Jinora. He had seen her in formal wear before, but he loved it every time she dressed up. Jinora was a beautiful woman, no matter what she wore, but Kai had always carried a secret fondness for her ballroom dresses.

"Oh, Kai, they're here!" Asami said, and Kai quickly jumped up out of his seat. Despite what Tenzin might say about him sometimes, he had learned his manners. So he quickly rushed to the door to meet Jinora to help her to her seat. But when the door opened his eyes almost fell out of his head.

She was so beautiful that he almost forgot the whole reason that he'd stood up to meet her at the door. But after a moment, he managed to compose himself and offered her an arm. "You look beautiful." He told her.

"And look at you!" Jinora's eyes swept up and down his body. She gently pressed into his side, hopefully so that Korra and Asami wouldn't notice. "We might have to look into getting a suit like this for you. It looks great on you."

And just like that, Kai felt a lot better about the penguin suit. Jinora pressed her hand to his chest, an unspoken signal between the two of them that Kai had learned meant that she wanted to kiss him. So he obliged her, pulling her into a soft kiss.

"How sweet!" Asami said with a smile.

"I know. Young love." Korra said with a laugh. "Now, come on you two! I'm starving!"

* * *

Kai was very impressed with Kwong's Cuisine. Growing up as an orphan and then on the streets had pretty much cut off all access to good food. And then he'd become a member of the Air Nation and things had definitely improved. Some of the other Airbenders complained about missing meat sometimes, and Kai did miss it sometimes, but one thing about not knowing where your next meal came from made him thankful for the food he had. So it didn't matter if meat was off the table, Pema and the Acolyte's cooking was still the best thing he'd ever tasted.

But the food was like from another world. Korra and Asami had compared it to the food they'd eaten in Zaofu, which just made Kai wonder how Opal had been able to deal with their meager rations when they were paired together as an Air Nomad team.

And the wine was pretty great too. Kai was no expert, but the wine tasted pleasant in his mouth and had almost none of the bitter after-taste one would normally associate with alcohol.

And one of the greatest things about the wine… it turns out that Korra got a bit _talkative_ when she was tipsy, and was currently telling Kai a hilarious story about Jinora from when she'd first met the young Airbender.

"And then I asked Jinora what I should do about my feelings for Mako, and do you know what she said?"

Jinora currently had her palms pressed to her face in embarrassment. "Korra, please! I was only ten years old at the time!"

Korra snorted with laughter. "She said that my situation reminded her about a historical romance novel she'd just read. The female protagonist responded to the guy she loved loving someone else by hopping on a dragon, burning an entire country to the ground, and then jumping into a volcano!" She leaned over and elbowed Kai in the side. "I'm just sayin', kid, don't break her heart! I don't want to have to explain to Zhu Li why a dragon is burning down Republic City."

Jinora groaned in embarrassment while Kai just laughed at the story. "Please, Korra, I was just a child back then! I've matured since then, you know! I would not burn down a country and hop into a volcano anymore!"

Asami laughed, placing her hand on Korra's shoulder. "That's enough, dear. You're embarrassing Jinora." Korra at least had the decency to look apologetic. "So, how are you two feeling? Excited?"

Because Jinora was blushing so hard it almost seemed she was on the verge of lighting on fire, Kai answered. "Yeah, we're excited. A little nervous, too. But mostly excited."

"That's natural." Asami said with a smile. "You should have seen Korra before our wedding. She almost went into the Avatar State from nerves."

"Actually, I kinda did the night before." Korra confessed with a blush. "But it turned out fine. Married life is great, and there's no one I'd rather spend my life with." Asami met her eyes with a smile and they shared a kiss. "And it seems like everyone is excited."

"It almost seems like they are more excited for your marriage than for mine." Korra commented.

"Well, there have been two more Avatar marriages than one hundred percent Air Nomad marriages in the last two hundred years." Asami pointed out. "Anyway, we know that planning a wedding is crazy, so if you need any help we are here for you."

"Actually, there is something..." Jinora began after she recovered from her embarrassment. She met Kai's eyes for a few moments, and then he nodded in agreement. "Asami, I was sort of hoping that you would stand for us?" (A/N: Somewhat modern translation: be a Bridesmaid/Groomsman, but normally only for family.)

Asami looked a little shocked. After all, it was normally family who held that position in weddings, or at least that's how it was in non-Air Nomad weddings. Maybe it was different in their culture? "If you are sure, I would be honored. But isn't that supposed to be your families?"

"What are you talking about? You are like my family. And do you think we could stop Bolin for standing for Kai?" Jinora laughed. Even after all of these years, Bolin had never stopped referring to Kai as his honorary little brother. "And if Bolin stands for Kai, Mako will as well. We want everyone to share in our happy day."

"And what about me?" Korra asked. "You don't want me to stand for you?"

"Well… yes, but only because… well… we were sort of hoping that you would be the one to marry us." Jinora said nervously.

At the look on Korra's face, Kai quickly jumped in. "If you don't want to, you are welcome to stand for us instead. We just thought..."

The shocked look on Korra's face fell away and was replaced by a smile. "You guys… I would be honored to perform your wedding ceremony. You'll just have to get Tenzin to teach me how the Air Nomad ceremony goes. I don't have my past lives to ask anymore."

"Of course. And you'll have plenty of time to learn." Jinora assured her. "Autumn is over half a year away. And there are a few traditions that we cannot follow, simply because of the situation that we are in..."

"It's kind of hard for my family to negotiate a betrothal since I have no family." Kai said, shrugging. Nor did Jinora have a maternal uncle for Kai to get permission to propose to her. Some parts of Air Nomad tradition would have to be left by the wayside.

"No problem at all. If I learned all four Bending practices, I can learn one wedding ceremony, no problem."

"And I'll be happy to stand as your family." Asami said, smiling.

The rest of the evening past in good food, good drink, and happy company. Jinora and Kai couldn't think of a happier way to begin their engagement.

* * *

 **LES: Since the Air Nomads are clearly based on Tibetan culture, I have made an effort to go by real life Tibetan culture when it comes to a wedding ceremony. I have a couple of websites bookmarked on my computer and am doing my best to accurately portray their culture. There might be some missteps. At least one of the websites I'm using was clearly written by someone who had only a passing understanding of English, so it's a little hard to make out. But, hopefully, but putting it all together, I can make something that is not offensive. One of the things I've learned is that it is often not the boy himself who proposes, but the boy's parents, to the girl's parents. Arranged marriage can be a thing in Tibet, but this process can also be started by the boy asking his parents to approach the girl's family for him. But, since Kai has no parents I felt safe ignoring this. I was also interested to read on one of the websites that a boy was expected to get permission from the girl's maternal uncle. Jinora has a paternal uncle, but we don't know if Pema has any male siblings, so I'm skipping that one too.**


	3. All Grown Up

**Chapter III: All Grown Up**

Despite his overall feelings of respect for Kai, Tenzin could not help but be a little nervous as he and his daughter went out to a dinner date with Korra and Asami. Because even after all this time, even after her achieving her rank as a Master Airbender, there was still a part of Tenzin that still saw Jinora as his little girl.

Which is why he was standing on a cliff above the island's port, waiting for the boat that would bring Kai and his daughter back from the main land. Pema had all ready been outside twice, telling him to calm down and come back inside, but for the first time in their marriage, Tenzin did not answer her.

Eventually, his eyes found the statue of his father in the middle of the bay and he tried for a moment to imagine Aang's reaction to the situation. But it only took a moment to Tenzin to realize that if his father were still alive today, he would probably still be riding high on the creation of the Harmonic Airbenders and would probably just be pleased for an Air Nomad wedding to occur again. Avatar Aang would have been over the moon with the knowledge that his granddaughter would be marrying another Airbender.

And as for how Aang had reacted to his own children's love lives… Aang had past away before things had fallen apart with Lin. When his father had found out about them, he'd only told Tenzin to not break her heart or Toph would kill him.

Not for the first time, Tenzin was choked up with the wish that his father could have lived long enough to see his children, and hoping desperately that Aang had been able to see them through Korra's eyes before that connection had been severed forever.

Tenzin was waiting for about another half an hour before he saw the ship heading towards the island. He waited in silence as the ship approached and pulled up to the dock. Tonight, only two residents were returning to the island. Tenzin watched as Kai and Jinora got off the ship, holding hands.

Tenzin could tell that they were speaking to each other, but he was too far away to hear what was being said, but he could guess from their mutual blushes. Tenzin was about to vacate his perch when he saw that almost as soon as they were off the dock, Jinora laughed and pulled Kai into a stand of trees.

 _Not on my watch._ Tenzin thought to himself as he jumped down off the cliff.

* * *

Jinora laughed as she and Kai stepped off the barge and back on Air Temple Island. "I had a good time with you tonight." She said, blushing shyly as she once again pressed herself into Kai's side.

Kai blushed even deeper as she took her hand in his. "Me too." He replied.

"We still need to ask Opal to stand for us." Jinora commented. "And do you know when Bolin is coming back to Republic City?"

"About a week or so." Kai answered. "He and Mako are in Ba Sing Se visiting their family."

"Good. We can ask Mako when they come back too." Jinora fell silent for a moment. And then she reached out, took Kai's arm, and dragged him off into the bushes. Kai gasped in shock, but did not fight Jinora as she pulled him into the bushes and pressed him against a tree with her slim body.

Kai almost fainted on the spot, but forced himself to remain on his feet even as she pressed her body ( _and her breasts!_ ) against his body. "Jin..." Kai gasped before he felt her lips press hungrily to his. Not one to turn down a kiss for her, Kai eagerly responded without any more prompting.

Jinora had never kissed him this passionately while they were anywhere near Air Temple Island before, and he thought that maybe it had to do with the wine they'd had on their double date with Korra and Asami. But, while the wine did help in this regard a little bit, Jinora was mostly drunk on Kai at the moment. Every time she met his eyes, the giddy thought would flood her mind: _He's my fiancé!_ He was so handsome, and she was so in love with him, and so excited that they were to be married that it was almost all she could do to contain herself in the company of others. The moment they seemed to be alone, it had exploded out of her in a passionate attack on him.

Not that Kai minded in the slightest. He was no stranger to the feeling of wanting to scream to the world how much he loved her, to give her all of him, everything she deserved. He wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her even closer, and kissing her more fiercely.

Jinora groaned in pleasure as she felt the stirrings of his arousal against her hip, and she began to subtly shift her body against him, giving only the slightest movements against him. Hopefully, just enough to give him pleasure, but not enough to drive him wild with lust. A small part of Jinora's mind still cautioned her: _you are on Air Temple Island_.

Kai broke the kiss with a deep groan of pleasure, which Jinora shushed him for. He met her eyes with a heated gaze. "What you do to me..." He whispered into her ear.

Jinora grinned, and pressed her body harder into his arousal. Kai practically had to bite his lip to stay silent. "I love you, Kai. So much. I can't wait until we are married."

"Me too." Kai whispered. "Spirits… Jinora..."

"I can't wait to make love to you." Jinora whispered into his ear, her voice going even softer for the next words she spoke. "Do you know how many times I've pleasured myself imagining it was you?"

Scratch that earlier moment. Now was the moment when Kai almost fainted. Of course, he had done the same thing many times over the last few years, but he'd never imagined Jinora confessing to doing that as well. "Oh, Spirits… kiss me." Kai gasped, completely overwhelmed by the woman in his arms past the point of coherent thought.

Jinora smiled and molded her lips with his, allowing his tongue inside to plunder her mouth.

Just when things were heating up, they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Jinora instantly moved away from Kai, who barely had the brainpower left to attempt a discrete cover up of his… situation. Thank the spirits for loosing-fitting Air Nomad robes. "Dad!" Jinora gasped in shock.

 _Oh crap…_ Kai thought to himself. Sure enough, Tenzin had come up to them through the trees. Kai half-expected Tenzin to start yelling at him and call off the wedding right there and then. They hadn't done anything before, and they hadn't really planned to do anything tonight. But it still seemed pretty clear to Kai that, from the outside, he and Jinora had been toeing the line of decency.

Tenzin glanced between the two of them, and then let out a little sigh. "I'm glad to see you safely back, Jinora. Did you enjoy your evening with Korra and Asami?" He asked, focusing on his daughter.

"Oh… yes! We had a great time with them! Right Kai?"

 _Don't bring me into this!_ Kai thought in a panic. "Err… yes. It was great. Now, if you don't mind, I believe that I am due to go on patrol tomorrow morning, so I'll need to take off early. Um… good night, sir. Jinora..." Kai said nervously, before turning and taking cautious steps up to the Air Temple.

Once Kai was out of sight and out of earshot, Jinora began to speak to her father. "Dad, I..."

"I'm not angry." Tenzin said.

That stopped Jinora in her tracks. She was about to launch into an explanation about how she and Kai had not done anything wrong. They had not crossed the boundary of their relationship that the old Air Nomads had reserved specifically for marriage. Even though Jinora personally thought that was one tradition that could be left behind, she was willing to follow it to ease her father's worries. But he wasn't angry? "Dad?" She asked, confused.

"I am in a constant state of shock, but I'm not angry with you, or with Kai." Tenzin said. "Even after all of these years, I still can't believe that my little girl has grown up so much."

Jinora recognized the words that he'd told her the day she'd been saved from the bison thieves. "Dad..." Jinora said, the beginnings of small tears in her eyes. She rushed over to her father and pulled him into an embrace. "I'll always be your daughter, no matter what." She said. "But..."

"But?"

"You could be a little warmer with Kai." Jinora said, pulling back and giving her father a smirk that was so much like one of Kai's that it was scary. "He's terrified that if he makes a single wrong step you'll forbid us from getting married. And we both know that's not who he is anymore."

Tenzin sighed. "All right, sweetheart. But only a little bit. I never want him to take my daughter for granted."

"He will never do that." Jinora said.

"Just one more thing?" Tenzin began, and Jinora looked up at him. "No fooling around until you two are married."

"Dad!" Jinora gasped.

* * *

Tenzin had seen his daughter to her room before he made his way into the master suite he shared with his wife. Pema glanced up from a book she was reading when Tenzin entered the room. "So, was everything all right?" Pema asked, setting aside the book to turn her full attention on her husband. "Or have you scared Kai away from the island?"

"Everything was fine." Tenzin answered. _Maybe I should lighten up on Kai if everyone assumes the worst if he should fall even slightly short of perfection._ "I found them kissing… maybe even a little more than that."

Pema giggled. "Things change when it is your own children." She commented. "I remember that we made love plenty of times while we were engaged. Nor were you a virgin when you started dating me."

"Well, I..." Tenzin began, embarrassed as always when Pema brought up his history with Lin. Then he sighed. "Yes, I suppose it is different." As always, he was reluctant to speak to Pema about his former relationship, but it was bubbling inside him. "I don't think that my father knew that Lin and I… that we..."

"Had sex?" Pema supplied.

"Well… yes." Tenzin said shortly. "Or, if he did know, he never said anything to me about it. I wonder if he was ever this freaked out about any of our relationships..." On the surface, Aang had been supportive of his sons and daughter's relationships. But did he sit up at night worrying about his children having sex like Tenzin did?

Pema sighed. She hadn't known Avatar Aang very well before he died. At the time of his death, she had not even been able to meet his eyes for too long, such was her reverence for the Avatar. After all, back then, she was little more than a young Air Acolyte, absolutely nothing special about her. Avatar Aang had personally welcomed her on the island, and that was the first and only time he had spoken to her one-on-one. Tenzin, while much more serious, was much more approachable in comparison. "I can't say for sure." Pema said honestly. "But he probably did worry a lot about you and Bumi and Kya. He was a father, and that's just part of being a father." She gestured for Tenzin to sit on the bed next to her, which he did. "Jinora is a grown woman now, and that's really hard. I know exactly how you feel. I look at her, and I can remember the day she was born just like yesterday." Pema smiled at the memory. It had been one of the scariest and hardest moments of her life, but she would not trade her lovely daughter for anything. "We just have to trust that we have raised Jinora the right way. And I think we have. She is intelligent, and she is incredibly in tune with herself. She knows her heart, and she's not one to be swayed by the fancies of a passing lust."

Tenzin smiled. Pema was right, as she always was in regards to their children. "I suppose that I'm the one who needs to learn how to trust her." He said.

"Yes. Trust that she is happy with Kai. And that he makes her happy." Pema said. "So let us focus our efforts on giving our girl the most beautiful Air Nomad wedding that we can."

"Yes. Of course. There is so much to arrange..." Tenzin began thoughtfully.

"And perhaps we could pay for them to honeymoon somewhere nice?" Pema said thoughtfully. "Maybe Firelord Izumi will lend us her family's summer home on Ember Island so they can get started on making us some grandchildren to spoil."

"What? Grandchildren?" Tenzin gasped, his wide eyes meeting his wife's eyes. _Oops. Went just a little bit too far..._ Pema thought to herself.

* * *

 **LES: Tenzin is, by far, the hardest character to write for. One of my early reviewers (thanks Canada Cowboy!) expressed concern with Tenzin being too hostile to Kai. I totally agree with this reviewer that Tenzin hating Kai is a cliché in the Kainora fandom and I wanted Tenzin to be supportive of their marriage. But, at the same time, I didn't want to lose the comedy of Kai being afraid of Tenzin. Finding the middle ground between the two is pretty tough. I also didn't want to lose Tenzin (very understandably) looking out for his daughter. And as for Kai? Don't worry, by the time Tenzin becomes his father-in-law, he won't be _as_ scared of him.**

 **EDIT: I have made one little change to this chapter. When I first wrote this chapter, I had not given a lot of thought to Tenzin and Lin's past relationship, so I implied in the first posting that Tenzin and Lin had all ready broken up by the time that Aang died. But I started thinking more about it while at work today (when I should be thinking about the next chapter, I know.) But I came to realize that my initial thought was wrong and now I have to head-canon that Tenzin and Lin were still dating when Aang died, but their relationship quickly fell apart after that.**

 **I have always had the head-canon that their relationship didn't work out because Tenzin wanted children and Lin didn't. I can completely imagine the situation where Aang passes away suddenly, and Tenzin suddenly finds himself the last Airbender in the world. After that, his desire for children could have turned desperate. And when Lin refused to reconsider her stance on having children, that's what drove them apart.**

 **So I have edited this chapter to reflect this new head-canon.**


End file.
